Stigma Effect

Translator: Skye  Editor: thursdays  PR: sj_myself

The recent series of terrorist attacks were a big headache for the imperial capital.

The clock tower and drawbridges, as well as the alchemists’ tower and research facilities that developed new weapons like the guns Helio showed earlier, had become agitated by the attacks.

The joint works of the temple, the imperial palace, and the alchemists’ tower were victims of a series of bombings. The core, the energy source for maintaining the buildings, disappeared, and the buildings were blown up.

The restoration of the buildings could be done quickly, but the disappearance of the core was a problem. The core held enormous energy, and it wasn’t a readily available object.

Yuriel, who was sitting in the interrogation room listening to Helio’s explanation, stammered and asked, “...You discovered a bunch of bombs on the train?”

“Yes. The train was set to explode if it had stopped normally at the train station. But since you stopped it, the train went straight to the waiting station instead and didn’t explode.”

A large number of explosives were found in a locker in the last cabin where all the passengers were gathered in the stopped train. The detonator was at the very train station where Yuriel had a scuffle with Raphlet.

It was clear that since it was a busy train station where many people came and went, the bomb would have caused numerous casualties if it had exploded.

Yuriel was aghast by the shocking news.

“On that day, there must have been a passenger who overheard our conversation. There’s an article in the newspaper that states someone was trying to stop the train,” Helio said, showing her the newspaper he had prepared beforehand.

Yuriel felt like her head was going to explode with all the information.

She knew she wasn’t a very lucky person, but to think her luck could be this bad!

As soon as she had left the Mogris Grand Duchy, she had almost died in a train accident and now, she was being falsely accused of being a terrorist.

“I-I’ve never carried out a terrorist attack before. It’s also my first time in the capital.”

“Miss, calm down and take a closer look at the article,” Helio said, calming the shaking Yuriel.

Although his words barely soothed her, Yuriel forcibly gathered her mind and checked the article he was pointing at.

“Oh.”

“You’re not suspected of being a terrorist, it’s actually the opposite. It seems they heard our conversation where you mentioned you knew the monsters were going to ambush us.”

“This is…”

“I told them to hide in the train, but it seems someone snuck out and even took some pictures.”

There was a picture of Yuriel standing on the train and holding a gun. The picture even had Helio in front of her, making Yuriel appear as if she was helping him fight the monsters.

Contrary to Yuriel’s expectations, it was a favorable article.

The article said that she noticed the approach of the monsters and evacuated the passengers alongside Helio, the 2nd Division Commander of Albraca.

Helio pointed his finger to a specific section.

“My thoughts are the same. Rather than stopping a terrorist attack, it seems that you were aware of the monster ambush.”

Yuriel’s shoulders, which had been relaxed, stiffened again and her breath hitched as if he had hit the mark.

“How did you know about that?” he asked.

Yuriel clamped her mouth shut but his questions continued.

Helio was calm and persistent; he was like a natural-born hunter who waited for a long time and drove his prey into a place they could not escape from.

“I saw a monster approaching.”

“Where. How.”

“I s-saw it through the window of the train.”

“Did you see it before you came up to me?”

“Um, yes...That’s right.”

“Before you approached me.”

“Yes.”

“Sadly, the train was passing through a long tunnel before you came up to me. You wouldn’t have been able to see a monster approaching from afar. Not to mention, that’s not what you told me earlier either.”

“I, I…”

“You said you were sleeping. You said you fell asleep not long after the train departed.”

The longer Helio talked to her, the more Yuriel wanted to bite her tongue.

Seeing her fists on the table turn white, Helio placed his chin on his hand and continued, “If you really have a special ability to know about the monsters ahead of time, as the article says, we won’t treat you poorly.”

“No, I really...I really don’t have that kind of ability.”

“Haa….”

A long sigh escaped from him as he looked at Yuriel shaking her head stubbornly.

He straightened up his posture and breathed out another sigh-a rather sharp one this time-as if he were facing a troublesome situation.

Helio, who had been leaning forward expressionlessly, did not hold the title of the 2nd Commander of the Albraca Knights for no reason.

Rising up from his seat like a well-trained soldier, he placed his hand over the cuffs that were restraining Yuriel’s wrists.

Yuriel, whose hands were tied to the restraint that popped out in the middle of the table, cowered as she watched his actions.

Helio looked at her shoulders draw back in fear. He held something over the gold button that shone in the middle of the restraining device for a moment.

But nothing happened.

Helio took his hand off, leaned back in his chair, and observed Yuriel.

The moment she tilted her head in confusion, something like an intense current hit and passed through her whole body.

It was a tremendous shock that felt like it was thinly slicing up her entire body.

“Kyaak!”

“It’s a physical punishment used in interrogation rooms when a suspect doesn’t cooperate properly. The pain lasts for about a minute.”

“Ah, euk!”

Watching Yuriel tremble and throw her head back in pain, Helio murmured dully, “I wasn’t planning on using it if you cooperated with me, miss. But since you keep lying, I’m not sure if I can get you to talk if I continued like before.”

“Wa-, euuuk, wait a minute…”

“If you don’t answer me properly from now on, I’ll continue with the shocks. Based on my past experiences, I’m informing you that it would be more beneficial for you to open your mouth.”

Despite seeing Yuriel writhing in pain right in front of him, Helio continued to explain without changing his expression.

“It’s hard to lose your consciousness from this shock. Even if you faint, the shocks are powerful enough to make you regain your senses, and you’ll suffer even more. But you won’t die, so rest assured and continue suffering.”

It was a kind tone. It was the same as the one Yuriel encountered when she met him for the first time on the train-a gentleman-like attitude explaining the new products of civilization to a girl who came straight from the countryside.

In this situation, he seemed to have buried his emotions, becoming dull and worn out, a human who felt nothing.

No, not a human. He seemed more like a machine.

Yuriel thought so through the pain.

Helio calmly rummaged through his belongings and pulled out his watch. He opened the watch and held it in front of Yuriel’s eyes.

“I’ll keep the device running every three minutes. Whenever you feel like talking about how you knew about the monsters, please tell me.”

Yuriel’s forehead, which was leaning on the desk, broke out in cold sweat and she felt a chill run down her spine.

Staring at Yuriel who was frozen in a state of fear, he gently shifted his gaze and moved his hand.

“Three minutes have already passed.”

Once again, a gruesome shock passed through Yuriel’s entire body.

“I have to leave for a while now. I’ll have someone replace me, so feel free to talk whenever you’d like. If you find it hard to tell someone else, you can ask them to call for me. If it’s something that needs to be kept a secret, I’ll vow to keep it.”

Helio said to Yuriel, who was stretched out on the table. He rose from his chair and tapped his knuckle on the surface.

When Yuriel didn’t answer, he twisted his lips and fixed his lapel-which had rumpled when he took out his watch earlier-and left the room.

While the door was open for a moment, Yuriel could hear Helio giving instructions to someone outside the room.

“Send a shock every three minutes. If she shows any signs of opening her mouth or asks for me, come find me right away.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Be careful not to let this situation get into Raphlet’s ear. It seems that he has some kind of relationship with this woman, so it’s best to be cautious.”

“Did she talk?”

“She hasn’t said a word.”

Helio, who had only finished his schedule in the afternoon, frowned.

Throughout the course of his schedule, Raphlet had continually tried to take jurisdiction over the woman, causing Helio to be at his wit’s end.

Helio currently had the power to interrogate her, but he knew that the jurisdiction would be turned over soon. Everyone in Albraca knew that the leaders of the temple and alchemist tower listened to Raphlet’s words.

He had to figure out what kind of ability the woman had before that happened.

If she really had the power to predict the monsters’ movements, the uses for that were infinite. The efficiency of battles would increase, and the sacrificing of knights could be greatly reduced as well.

Even Raphlet wouldn’t be able to refute Helio’s plans if it were put forward as a tactic that predicted the activity of the monsters.

Helio had enough of Raphlet’s military operations which often sacrificed many of their knights.

Looking through the glass into the interrogation room, Helio saw that Yuriel was limp and unmoving. There was no response from her even when the knight in front of him was constantly operating the device.

He glanced at the woman for a moment before sighing and putting on the gloves he had brought.

“Commander Helio. That’s…”

“I’ll finish the interrogation before Raphlet is able to take authority. If he tries to come in, stop him.”

“Sir, she’s a civilian with no power. She won’t be able to endure it.”

“If she can’t endure it, then so be it. I’ll have no choice but to take care of it the way Raphlet did with my knights.”

The palm of the black glove was rough with bumps. The knight who saw Helio put on the gloves without any hesitation opened his mouth slightly.

Those gloves were a torture weapon made from the skin of a monster. If the glove touched someone’s skin without any preparation, the victim would suffer pain equivalent to skin melting on the spot of contact.

It was used only when dealing with the most terrible criminals. It had the effect of obtaining a confession, but it would be too much for a woman who was collapsed in the interrogation room.

While the knight was fidgeting, Helio went inside and patted Yuriel’s cheek with the back of his hand.

“Miss. Miss Yuriel. Get a hold of yourself.”

“...Sir...Sir Helio…”

“I thought you had fainted because you didn’t respond, but I see you’re conscious.”

Helio bent down to secure Yuriel’s waist onto the chair. Yuriel tilted her head, blinking her eyes as her vision was blurred from pain.

As her weak head hung sideways, Helio supported her cheek with the back of his hand and comfortably sat on the desk in front of her.

Meeting Yuriel’s eyes, he spoke in a subdued voice.

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